Happily engaged! Kanye West appeared to be in great spirits after getting engaged to Kim Kardashian on Monday, Oct. 21. The 36-year-old rapper was spotted flashing the peace sign to photographers the following day.
West, wearing a casual gray henley shirt, jeans and boots, had a smile on his face while stepping out as a newly-engaged man. The "I Am a God" rapper pulled out all the stops to give the mother of his 4-month-old daughter North a romantic marriage proposal on her 33rd birthday.
A source tells Us Weekly that West personally invited about 50 guests, including friends, family and Silicon Valley billionaires, to help surprise her at San Francisco's AT&T stadium. Guests hid while West led his future wife out onto the field blindfolded. He then got down on one knee and the JumboTron illuminated to read, "PLEEEASE MARRY MEEE!!!" as a full orchestra played.
After the lights went up, Kardashian's loved ones ran out to from the dugout to share their congratulations -- and check out her massive engagement ring, which West co-designed with Lorraine Schwartz.
"It was magical," an insider told Us. "It was the most romantic thing ever -- the ultimate surprise!"
Contact: Alexander Fromm alexander.fromm@iwm.fraunhofer.de 49-761-514-2134 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
People who invest in their own solar panels for the roof would like as a rule to profit from them over the long term but how long will this technology actually last for? While most manufacturers guarantee a lifetime of up to 25 years to their customers, the manufacturers themselves cannot make reliable predictions about the expected operating life. The modules must fulfill certain standards, of course, to be approved for operation. This involves exposing them in various trials to high temperatures and high mechanical loading. "However, the results only predict something about the robustness of a brand-new sample with respect to extreme, short-term loading. In contrast, agerelated effects that only appear over the course of time, such as material fatigue, are pertinent for the actual operating life," explains Alexander Fromm from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg.
The scientist is part of a project called Reliability of Photovoltaic Modules II, funded by Germany's Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), and is working on a new procedure for predicting the operating life of solar cell modules. "Using a dual approach, we combine actual measurements with a numeric simulation," according to Fromm. To this end, Fromm is initially investigating how mechanical loading affects units in field tests. This is because snow loads, temperature fluctuations, and wind gusts create mechanical stresses and associated strain and elongation in the modules. This leads to material fatigue in the long term. Both the plastic embedding material and the cell connectors in particular thin strips of copper that connect the solar cells to one another are susceptible. "It is like continually bending a paper clip back and forth. At some point, it breaks," explains Fromm.
Even light winds cause module oscillations
To be able to grasp the effect of these influences on the material, the researchers equipped a complete solar module with sensors that use changes in resistance to measure strains and elongations of the construction components. In turn, this allows the mechanical stresses in the material to be calculated. Fromm and his team determined from the data evaluation that even light wind suffices to cause oscillations in the module. The higher the ambient temperature, the more pronounced these oscillations become. Moreover, the resonant frequency increases over time as the plastic material gets stiffer and more brittle, due to UV radiation. "The pivotal question now is how these influences affect the operating life of the components over the long term. Our simulations come into play at this point," according to Fromm.
For this purpose, a detailed 3D simulation of the solar module has been worked out. Based on the measurements from the field tests, numerical calculations can be used to derive long term effects of the environmental influences on the module components and what kind of mechanical stresses develop. "Using the simulation, we have learned for example that the brittleness caused by UV radiation plays a much greater role in material fatigue than has been assumed thus far," says Fromm. To be able to predict the operating life of a module, the researchers combine the measurement values from the field test with known specific tensile strengths of the corresponding materials. These numbers predict the load at which the material is expected to break or separate.
No ready-made, large scale industrial test
The procedure can be implemented immediately. However, to produce optimal and reliable prognoses, the developers require highly detailed specific material data and information about the geometry of the module that is to be tested. "Our procedure does not offer a ready-made, large scale industrial test, but instead is individually tuned for each customer," explains Fromm. Using their calculations, the researchers are then able not only to make predictions about the expected operating life but also to depict potential improvements with regard to geometry and material as well as to predict the effects of various materials on the mechanical stresses in the module.
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Predicting the life expectancy of solar modules
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
22-Oct-2013
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Contact: Alexander Fromm alexander.fromm@iwm.fraunhofer.de 49-761-514-2134 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
People who invest in their own solar panels for the roof would like as a rule to profit from them over the long term but how long will this technology actually last for? While most manufacturers guarantee a lifetime of up to 25 years to their customers, the manufacturers themselves cannot make reliable predictions about the expected operating life. The modules must fulfill certain standards, of course, to be approved for operation. This involves exposing them in various trials to high temperatures and high mechanical loading. "However, the results only predict something about the robustness of a brand-new sample with respect to extreme, short-term loading. In contrast, agerelated effects that only appear over the course of time, such as material fatigue, are pertinent for the actual operating life," explains Alexander Fromm from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg.
The scientist is part of a project called Reliability of Photovoltaic Modules II, funded by Germany's Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), and is working on a new procedure for predicting the operating life of solar cell modules. "Using a dual approach, we combine actual measurements with a numeric simulation," according to Fromm. To this end, Fromm is initially investigating how mechanical loading affects units in field tests. This is because snow loads, temperature fluctuations, and wind gusts create mechanical stresses and associated strain and elongation in the modules. This leads to material fatigue in the long term. Both the plastic embedding material and the cell connectors in particular thin strips of copper that connect the solar cells to one another are susceptible. "It is like continually bending a paper clip back and forth. At some point, it breaks," explains Fromm.
Even light winds cause module oscillations
To be able to grasp the effect of these influences on the material, the researchers equipped a complete solar module with sensors that use changes in resistance to measure strains and elongations of the construction components. In turn, this allows the mechanical stresses in the material to be calculated. Fromm and his team determined from the data evaluation that even light wind suffices to cause oscillations in the module. The higher the ambient temperature, the more pronounced these oscillations become. Moreover, the resonant frequency increases over time as the plastic material gets stiffer and more brittle, due to UV radiation. "The pivotal question now is how these influences affect the operating life of the components over the long term. Our simulations come into play at this point," according to Fromm.
For this purpose, a detailed 3D simulation of the solar module has been worked out. Based on the measurements from the field tests, numerical calculations can be used to derive long term effects of the environmental influences on the module components and what kind of mechanical stresses develop. "Using the simulation, we have learned for example that the brittleness caused by UV radiation plays a much greater role in material fatigue than has been assumed thus far," says Fromm. To be able to predict the operating life of a module, the researchers combine the measurement values from the field test with known specific tensile strengths of the corresponding materials. These numbers predict the load at which the material is expected to break or separate.
No ready-made, large scale industrial test
The procedure can be implemented immediately. However, to produce optimal and reliable prognoses, the developers require highly detailed specific material data and information about the geometry of the module that is to be tested. "Our procedure does not offer a ready-made, large scale industrial test, but instead is individually tuned for each customer," explains Fromm. Using their calculations, the researchers are then able not only to make predictions about the expected operating life but also to depict potential improvements with regard to geometry and material as well as to predict the effects of various materials on the mechanical stresses in the module.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
iOS 7 has a slew of new features, but perhaps its most convenient is that it allows applications to pull data from the cloud in the background -- and now one of Apple's most derided apps is getting some of that love. In its latest incarnation, the Podcasts app can grab new episodes of your favorite ...
Contact: Clea Desjardins clea.desjardins@concordia.ca 514-848-2424 x5068 Concordia University
New book by Concordia scholar sheds light on history of presidential directives in the US
This news release is available in French.
Montreal, 23 October 2013 Following the latest US budget crisis, a fed-up President Barack Obama said to his opponents, "You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there win an election."
This despite the fact that various government officials have sharply criticized Obama for his allegedly autocratic use of presidential proclamations and executive orders over the past few months. But such actions are nothing new argues Graham Dodds, political science professor at Montreal's Concordia University.
Throughout US history, presidents have used unilateral directives to impose controversial policies, and Congress and the courts have seldom resisted says Dodds in his new book, Take Up Your Pen: Unilateral Presidential Directives in American Politics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), which chronicles how presidents came to be able to make law by a mere stroke of the pen and what the impact of these directives has been.
"In unilateral presidential directives," Dodds explains, "we see a dramatic expansion of presidential power that rests on vague justifications and has gone relatively unchecked. This development has roots in the Constitution's ambiguity and the character of executive power."
Although Constitution itself does not mention unilateral presidential directives, the judiciary first endorsed their constitutionality when the nation was only 23 years old. "That means that the status of these directives is bound up with the broader question of the scope of executive power," says Dodds.
Despite the early acceptance of presidential directives, presidents did not make use of the new policymaking tool for some time. But Dodds recounts that the nature of unilateral presidential directives changed dramatically with Theodore Roosevelt, who found in them the perfect means to implement his "stewardship" view of the presidency at the vanguard of an active government. "Roosevelt issued almost as many executive orders as all of his predecessors combined, and he did so for controversial purposes, provoking sharp conflicts with Congress," recounts Dodds.
The regular use of unilateral presidential directives became well established over the next half dozen presidencies. Although the number of executive orders declined, the use of unilateral directives has figured prominently in areas like national security, labor, civil rights and environmental protection.
Take Up Your Pen sheds light on several longstanding debates, including the roots of presidential power, the modern presidency and the nature of political development. Says Dodds, "the development of unilateral presidential directives is not some minor, isolated phenomenon; rather, it influences and is influenced by much of what is important and interesting in American politics. Even with evolving issue areas, periodic congressional resistance, and the occasional court case striking down a directive, odds are that presidents will continue to use unilateral directives for significant purposes for decades to come."
###
Related links:
Media contact:
Cla Desjardins
Senior advisor, media relations
University Communications Services
Concordia University
Phone: 514-848-2424, ext. 5068
Email: clea.desjardins@concordia.ca
Web: concordia.ca/now/media-relations
Twitter: twitter.com/CleaDesjardins
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Power and the Presidency
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
22-Oct-2013
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Contact: Clea Desjardins clea.desjardins@concordia.ca 514-848-2424 x5068 Concordia University
New book by Concordia scholar sheds light on history of presidential directives in the US
This news release is available in French.
Montreal, 23 October 2013 Following the latest US budget crisis, a fed-up President Barack Obama said to his opponents, "You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there win an election."
This despite the fact that various government officials have sharply criticized Obama for his allegedly autocratic use of presidential proclamations and executive orders over the past few months. But such actions are nothing new argues Graham Dodds, political science professor at Montreal's Concordia University.
Throughout US history, presidents have used unilateral directives to impose controversial policies, and Congress and the courts have seldom resisted says Dodds in his new book, Take Up Your Pen: Unilateral Presidential Directives in American Politics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), which chronicles how presidents came to be able to make law by a mere stroke of the pen and what the impact of these directives has been.
"In unilateral presidential directives," Dodds explains, "we see a dramatic expansion of presidential power that rests on vague justifications and has gone relatively unchecked. This development has roots in the Constitution's ambiguity and the character of executive power."
Although Constitution itself does not mention unilateral presidential directives, the judiciary first endorsed their constitutionality when the nation was only 23 years old. "That means that the status of these directives is bound up with the broader question of the scope of executive power," says Dodds.
Despite the early acceptance of presidential directives, presidents did not make use of the new policymaking tool for some time. But Dodds recounts that the nature of unilateral presidential directives changed dramatically with Theodore Roosevelt, who found in them the perfect means to implement his "stewardship" view of the presidency at the vanguard of an active government. "Roosevelt issued almost as many executive orders as all of his predecessors combined, and he did so for controversial purposes, provoking sharp conflicts with Congress," recounts Dodds.
The regular use of unilateral presidential directives became well established over the next half dozen presidencies. Although the number of executive orders declined, the use of unilateral directives has figured prominently in areas like national security, labor, civil rights and environmental protection.
Take Up Your Pen sheds light on several longstanding debates, including the roots of presidential power, the modern presidency and the nature of political development. Says Dodds, "the development of unilateral presidential directives is not some minor, isolated phenomenon; rather, it influences and is influenced by much of what is important and interesting in American politics. Even with evolving issue areas, periodic congressional resistance, and the occasional court case striking down a directive, odds are that presidents will continue to use unilateral directives for significant purposes for decades to come."
###
Related links:
Media contact:
Cla Desjardins
Senior advisor, media relations
University Communications Services
Concordia University
Phone: 514-848-2424, ext. 5068
Email: clea.desjardins@concordia.ca
Web: concordia.ca/now/media-relations
Twitter: twitter.com/CleaDesjardins
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| E-mail
Share
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — Students cowered in fear and pleaded for their lives as a 12-year-old Nevada boy went on a schoolyard rampage with a handgun he brought from home, waving the weapon at frightened classmates and shooting a math teacher in the chest on a basketball court.
The boy opened fire Monday morning on the Sparks Middle School campus, wounding two boys and killing the teacher before he turned the gun on himself.
Washoe County School District police revealed Tuesday that the seventh-grader brought the 9mm semi-automatic Rugger handgun from his home, but authorities were still working to determine how he obtained it. The student's parents were cooperating with authorities and could face charges in the case, police said.
Eighth-grader Angelo Ferro recalled burying his face in his hands as the boy waved the gun and threatened to shoot. Another seventh grader and Ferro's math teacher, Michael Landsberry, lay gunned down nearby.
"The whole time I was hoping Mr. L was OK, we'd all get through it, it was a bad dream," Ferro told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Ferro, 13, was in the schoolyard with friends when the violence erupted.
He heard a pop about 15 minutes before the morning bell rang but didn't think much of it. He then saw an injured boy clutching his wounded arm, and he watched Landsberry walk toward the gunman and take a bullet to the chest.
Unable to get inside the locked-down school, Ferro and others crouched against the building for safety but soon came face-to-face with the armed student.
Ferro didn't know the boy but said he and other frightened classmates begged for their lives and tried to talk him out of firing. Something distracted the student, and he didn't shoot. "He left, thank God," Ferro said.
A series of 911 calls made from the school also reflected the terror of the situation, including an ominous report of "teacher down."
"Can you send please send police out here," a panicked student told a 911 dispatcher. "There's a kid with a gun."
Authorities say they're withholding the shooter's name out of respect for his family. They provided no motive for the shooting but said they've interviewed 20 or 30 witnesses and are looking into any prior connections between the victims and the shooter.
"Everybody wants to know why — that's the big question. The answer is, we don't know right now," Sparks Deputy Police Chief Tom Miller said. Sparks is just east of Reno and has a population of roughly 90,000.
Also Tuesday, law enforcement and school officials again lauded the actions of Landsberry, a 45-year-old former Marine who tried to stop the rampage before he was killed.
"I cannot express enough appreciation for Mr. Landsberry," Washoe County School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez said at a news conference. "He truly is a hero."
Students said they saw Landsberry walk calmly toward the shooter and ask him to hand over his weapon before he was gunned down. Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras said Landsberry's actions gave some students enough time to run to safety.
Police said they believe the shooter at one point tried to enter the school but couldn't open the door because of emergency lockdown procedures.
After killing Landsberry, the boy fired at a second student, hitting him in the abdomen. He then shot himself in the head.
The two 12-year-old boys who were wounded are in stable condition and recovering.
Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to a high school after the shooting, and all classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week, while an adjacent elementary school is set to reopen Wednesday.
Landsberry coached several youth sports. He also served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard and was well-known in the school community, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said. Landsberry served in the Marine Corps from 1986 to 1990 and was stationed in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Okinawa, Japan, according to military records.
Senior Master Sgt. Robert Garrett attended middle school with Landsberry in Reno before serving as his supervisor in recent years at the Nevada Air National Guard.
"Every one of the people I have talked to just knew that Mike was in there," Garrett said. "He was the guy that would have jumped in there to stop the bullets from hitting other kids. And sure enough, it was."
___
Rindels reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.
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iOS 7 has a slew of new features, but perhaps its most convenient is that it allows applications to pull data from the cloud in the background -- and now one of Apple's most derided apps is getting some of that love. In its latest incarnation, the Podcasts app can grab new episodes of your favorite ...
